


Small Talk

by pocky_slash



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Coming Out, M/M, Meeting the Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-03-18
Updated: 2009-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:00:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24305524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pocky_slash/pseuds/pocky_slash
Summary: "If you get nervous, just make small talk. Ask him about us. Me and my brothers and Elsie, I mean," Will had said, gesturing around the bedroom as if his five siblings were standing there with them. And, god, that was a scary thought. "Of if you don't want to ask him about us, ask him about the oboe."
Relationships: Will Bailey/Sam Seaborn
Kudos: 10





	Small Talk

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I need to go to sleep! The third ficlet, for [](https://neurotictealeaf.livejournal.com/profile)[**neurotictealeaf**](https://neurotictealeaf.livejournal.com/)! She wrote me [a lovely little snippet about Violinist!Will](http://pocky-slash.livejournal.com/1338967.html?thread=5873239#t5873239)!
> 
> This is... I don't even know! Um, in my headcanon, Will's dad plays the Oboe. It's how he met Will's mom. It's a long story, but in another fic, I had Will jokingly tell Sam that a good icebreaker, should Sam meet his dad in an official capacity, would be to ask him about playing the oboe. As [](https://neurotictealeaf.livejournal.com/profile)[**neurotictealeaf**](https://neurotictealeaf.livejournal.com/) actually plays the oboe, I've been meaning to write the story of Sam doing that for quite a while. And. I don't know, it spiraled out of control into this mess.
> 
> This is part of an AU I have in my head where Sam and Will meet and begin a relationship in early S2. This in particular takes place not long before the staff finds out about the President's MS.

"So, um, you play the oboe?"

Sam really doesn't mean to say it, it's just that he's not thinking.

Well, that's not really it. It's more like he's thinking too much, thinking to the point of panic, to the point of saying anything to fill the silence. It's nearly overwhelming, this urge to hide under the table, to get out of the meeting, but he knows he can't run, so he babbles instead.

Not the greatest idea he's ever had.

Toby and Josh are staring at him, but that has nothing on the way that General Bailey is staring at him. If Leo and the President hadn't stepped out of the room right before Sam's tremendous gaffe, he figures they'd probably be staring at him too.

"Excuse--what?" General Bailey says.

"Um," Sam says. "The oboe. I just. You play it?"

"How--" The General starts to say, but he stops abruptly and an even odder look passes over his face. He breaks into a smile, and then starts laughing.

If anything, this confuses Josh and Toby even more.

"What the hell is going on?" Josh hisses to him across the table. The General is still laughing.

"Oh my," he says, finally managing to get himself together, though he's still chuckling. "Oh my. Well--Sam, right?"

Sam nods quickly, eyes wide.

"Well, Sam, I'd imagine you got that little tidbit from my youngest son? It's either him or my daughter, but DC's a long way from California."

"Yes, General," Sam says, still nodding. "Sir. Yes."

General Bailey chuckles again and wipes tears from his eyes. "Oh, that's William for you. It seems he's been keeping something from me." He raises his eyebrows and smirks at Sam. Sam feels his cheeks going red. He's going to kill Will, he's going to absolutely kill him for even putting the idea of the oboe, of that ridiculous question, into his head.

"If you get nervous, just make small talk. Ask him about us. Me and my brothers and Elsie, I mean," Will had said, gesturing around the bedroom as if his five siblings were standing there with them. And, god, that was a scary thought. "Of if you don't want to ask him about us, ask him about the oboe. He played for about a million years. It's how he met my mom."

And, god, of course, when stranded in a room with Will's father, he couldn't think of a single other thing to say. General Bailey, sitting at the end of the table, looking stern and severe, and Sam couldn't stop thinking about how much the General would flay him alive if he found out Sam was sleeping with his son, no matter how many times Will told him that his parents didn't care that he was gay.

"I repeat," Josh says, a little louder this time, brining Sam back to the moment, "what the _hell_ is going on?"

"Um," Sam says. "I just." He takes off his reading glasses and spins them between his fingers.

"He's well, then? William, I mean," General Bailey asks. There's still mischief sparkling in his eyes, but there's a fondness there with it. He can see, all at once, that Will wasn't exaggerating when he said he and his dad were close. Sam nods again, but slower this time, and he allows himself to smile a little.

"That's good to hear. I worry about him out here on his own," the General says, and he smiles back. Will is their common ground, after all. He may still be afraid that General Bailey will flay him alive, but at least they can agree on this one thing--Will is amazing. Will is something else.

Josh knows that smile, though, the smile that he gives to the General, the smile that he can't keep off of his face when he thinks about Will. Josh looks from Sam to the General and back. He looks again and again and his eyes widen and then narrow. His mouth slips into a frown.

"Sam, you didn't," Josh says flatly.

"Josh," Sam says warningly, glancing over at Toby, who looks utterly pissed at being completely out of the loop in this conversation, who looks even more pissed now that it seems Josh has more information than he does.

"Sam!"

"It's none of your business, Josh, and this meeting certainly isn't--"

"Now, gentlemen," General Bailey says. He's smiling amicably, but there's a steely tone to his voice that makes Sam sit up a little straighter and revert to fearing for his life. "What Sam and William choose to do with their spare time is no one's business but their own, and I don't see why it needs to be--"

That's when Toby gets it.

Sam has to admit, he was expecting Toby to put things together sooner. He and Will have been whatever they are for over eight months now, and Toby's the one who's walked in on the end of phone conversations and too-cheerful mornings. Toby's been distracted lately, and the fact that it took General Bailey basically spelling this out for him to get it just proves it.

"Sam," Toby says in the level, calm voice that means he's going to lose his cool any second. "Please tell me you're not sleeping with the good General's _son_."

"Don't worry, Mr. Zeigler, I'm not offended," the General said. "It's good for William. He spends too much time alone and I've only known Sam for five minutes, but he already seems significantly more stable that several of Will's past boyfriends."

Sam's both shocked and touched by that. Will's joked several times about what he refers to as the "freaks and losers of his checkered past," but hearing tacit approval from Will's father brings a smile to his face, especially after making a rather ridiculous first impression. He likes Will, he really does, and more importantly--no, not more importantly, more _surprisingly_ , Will seems to like him. Will seems to _get him_ in a way that few other people in the world do. Will's not just amused by him--he doesn't put up with Sam's antics with an eyeroll and an exasperated smile. He doesn't write off Sam's thoughts or ideas. Will listens to him and talks to him and laughs at his jokes and understands his train of thought, the things he wants out of life.

And, god, that means this thing with Will is an actual thing, isn't it?

"I'm sorry, sir," Toby says, "while I'm glad that you approve of Sam's idiocy, I'm less concerned about how this affects you than I am about how this affects the President."

"And what idiocy are we talking about now?"

Sam covers his face with his hands. "Oh god," he murmurs, because he was really hoping not to involve the President in his personal life ever again. It was bad enough when he was flirting with Mallory.

"Nothing, sir," General Bailey says. "Sam and I have, ah, a mutual acquaintance. Rather, he knows my youngest boy."

The President and Leo retake their seats at the head of the table. Leo looks bemused, though that's typical of whenever he's stuck in a meeting with the President. The President looks... thoughtful.

"Will, right? He's coming with you for dinner?" he asks. General Bailey nods.

"Yes, Will," he says. "And, you know, if you don't mind, Mr. President, I'd like to invite Sam to have with us as well." He smiles affably at the President and then turns it on Sam, where it becomes slightly more predatory.

"Oh god," Sam says again.

"Of course!" the President says. "Sam's always welcome."

And now Sam can't turn down the invitation. Not only did Will's father invite him, but the President extended the invitation as well. He wonders if there's any way to get himself hit by a car or attacked by a cluster of angry squirrels before dinner.

"Thank you, sir," Sam says, hoping it doesn't sound too strained. "That's... just... great...."

The General smiles at him again and pulls out his phone.

"If you gentlemen will excuse my rudeness for a moment, I'm going to call Will right now and tell him."

Sam tries to keep his head from hitting the table in despair.

"Sir," Toby says, rubbing his forehead, "I have to say, you display a certain level of deviousness that I can't help but admire, regardless of how much trouble it's going to inevitably cause me."

The President frowns and leans close to Leo. "What's he talking about?"

"I think," Leo says, "Sam is slightly uncomfortable with being invited to dinner."

"Sam, you've been to dinner with us dozens of times," the President says. "There's no reason to feel uncomfortable. Like I said, you're always welcome."

"Yeah, but usually it's not with my boyfriend and his parents," Sam mutters.

It takes him a good minute of silence to realize he's said it out loud.

"For fuck's sake, Sam...." Toby says.

"Did you just say...?" Josh says.

"Um," the President says.

"Christ," Leo mutters under his breath.

"Hello, William!" the General says, sounding much more cheerful than the rest of the room. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm actually still in the meeting, believe it or not. Speaking of, I have a funny story for you! I met an interesting man named Sam Seaborn today..... mm hm. I thought you would say that. So it's okay that I invited him to dinner tonight then, right?"

Sam has to give the General credit--at least the spotlight is on him for the time being.

"William?" General Bailey says. "William? William!" He frowns and pulls his phone away from his ear, then replaces it, glancing at the rest of them. "I think it's possible Will fell down the stairs."

Sam closes his eyes. "I shouldn't have bothered to get out of bed this morning."

"It's guaranteed to get better," General Bailey says. "You have yet to meet my wife."

This time, Sam actually lets his head hit the tabletop.


End file.
